Tomorrow is the much dreaded day, Friday, December 21st, 2012. “Doomsday” as it’s been called. The day that the Mayas supposedly predicted would mark the end of the world. So what can we expect to happen on this last Friday before Christmas? Will the world truly end tomorrow? Is that what the Mayas predicted? If it doesn’t end tomorrow, what will happen then? These are some of the questions that I want to examine as I write these words, with two hours and twenty-one minutes left until midnight.

Speaking of the time left until THE DAY, that brings to mind the first question I have, which is when on the 21st this is all supposed to happen. Technically speaking, as I write these words it is already the 21st of December from the International dateline to at least the Middle East. So why hasn’t anything happened yet that we know of? My hunch is that since the Mayas made all of their astronomical calculations from Central America, any predictions they may have made regarding a certain date would take effect in that time zone, particularly at dawn in Central America as their calculations called for things to happen at dawn. Okay, that buys us a few extra hours, anyway…

I have already written an article about the Mayan predictions here on It’s a Weird, Weird World (listed under “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”) so I won’t go into all of the details again – I dislike being repetitive! So, let’s cut to the chase: did the Mayas really predict that the world will end on this date? No. Not just “no”, but an emphatic NO! The Mayas never said that the world will end on this date. What they did predict was that the world would enter a period of upheaval, both geologic and societal, that will soon usher in a new age for the human race. So, if you are trembling in fear waiting for the sun to explode or the earth to burn up or any other planet-killing event to happen tomorrow, tremble no more, for it’s not going to happen. There will be a December 22nd. The world will continue on, although things are going to deteriorate even quicker the further past tomorrow we get.

The Mayas wrote about several ages for humanity, all of which ended in some great catastrophe or another. There was destruction by fire, by wind, and by a global flood, which sounds rather familiar. The Mayas predicted that when their calendar restarts on Saturday we will begin entering the next age, or at least the transition into it. Now that’s not so hard to imagine since we’ve been seeing an increase in volcanic and seismic activity. For that matter, we are also seeing a marked increase in strange weather occurrences that are mostly blamed on “global warming” (that’s a subject I’ll have to tackle sometime after tomorrow as I do have – not surprisingly – a firm opinion on it!), and we still live with the ever-increasing threat of global war some twenty years and more past the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, if you take an objective look at all of the things going on in the world right now, it doesn’t take much of an imagination to see an increase in calamities and disasters. In fact, the odds of our planet going through a period of upheaval increase every day. Maybe the Mayas knew more than anyone has given them credit for.

Which brings me to the most detailed yet concise telling of the events to come near the end of the age that are found anywhere in the Bible, which is the 24th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. In the space of 51 verses taking up about one page of the Bible an authority no less than the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself, list what He calls the signs of the end of the age. Wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens, signs in the earth, persecutions and societal upheaval, all were predicted 2,000 years ago. He compares the signs to come to the spring growth of the fig tree, and anyone who wants to read a really excellent piece regarding fig trees and end times prophecies is invited to go to http://unifiedserenity.wordpress.com and look up fig tree on the site search. Jesus also said that these signs will be like birth pangs; in other words, they will build in intensity and frequency as we get closer to the true end of the age (any woman who has ever delivered a child can explain that for you).

I’ve said all of that as a precursor to this: no one will know exactly when the world will end. Right there in Matthew 24:36 the Lord stated that no one except the Almighty Father knows when it will happen; even Jesus did not know the day or the hour. So if someone says that the Mayas predicted that the world will end on December 21st they don’t know what they are talking about. Which, since we’re on the subject of no one knowing the day or the hour, brings up one of my biggest problems with the doctrine of “The Rapture” as it’s known, and that is if the gathering together of the followers of Christ, both living and dead, happened at the very beginning of the Tribulation, which is what most Protestant churches in America teach if they bother themselves with end times prophecies at all, then it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to calculate within a few days when Christ will return to Earth. The same would be true if December 21st marked the beginning of the Tribulation. So…

What is my guess as to what will happen tomorrow? (Today if you live in Australia or India.) Probably not a whole lot that stands out. Remember, all that the Mayas predicted was the beginning of a transition to the next age, a transition that will be filled with great catastrophes. In fact, I’d say that nothing much will probably happen tomorrow. Why, you ask? It’s simple. If nothing extravagant happens then most people will just laugh a little bit nervously and go on with their lives. Ok, that doesn’t sound so bad. No, it’s not, unless of course you take into consideration that most people will never take any other “end of the world” predictions seriously – remember what happened when the whole Y2K thing fell through. And that is where so many will fall into the very real danger of refusing to see it coming. For make no mistake, the reign of man is about to end on this planet and Christ is coming back to take up His crown and begin His rule of our troubled little rock.

So, my friends, those of you who are giving everything away or partying like there’s no tomorrow are going to wake up in the morning (or perhaps you already have – this whole International Date Line thing messes me up sometimes) and find that your life will continue, at least for a while. The world will not end tomorrow, and to borrow from Mark Twain, rumors of the world’s imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Just don’t make the mistake of spending tomorrow convincing yourself that it will never end. Our time as rulers over the earth is closer to its end than any of us probably realize.

2 responses to “What Will Happen on Friday?”

I ott up around 7 am. I started the fire. I will try to eat something if it does not hurt to bad. I will take the dogs for a short walk. I will drive to town and get the mail. I will cook Dave a great brunch when he gets up. I will watch the regular news programs. I will blog, read, e-mail my kids and grandchildren, brothers and sisters. I will live. Beings that I almost died Sunday morning the 14th of dec. 2012 and ended up in emergency surgry.
The world is not ending today. I also love those who are preparing for the end of the world. If the world ends you won’t need to do anything.